Chinese New Year: The Year of the Horse



Ivan and the Chestnut Horse

by

Edmund Dulac, 1919

The Chinese New Year is celebrated on January 31, 2014. This year they honor the Year of the Horse.

 “The spirit of the horse is recognized to be the Chinese people's ethos – making unremitting efforts to improve themselves. It is energetic, bright, warm-hearted, intelligent and able. Ancient people liked to designate an able person as 'Qianli Ma', a horse that covers a thousand li a day (one li equals 500 meters).”

~ Each day of the fifteen-day celebration has its own traditions, such as visiting in-laws or staying home to welcome good fortune.

~ Fireworks displays during Chinese New Year stem from a custom of lighting bamboo stalks on fire to ward off evil spirits.

~ In China, families gather together for meals, especially for a feast on New Year's Eve.

~ The Chinese New Year ends with the Lantern Festival, celebrated at night with displays and parades of painted lanterns.

~ The highlight of the Lantern Festival is the Dragon Dance. Beautiful dragons made of paper, silk and bamboo are held overhead and appear to dance as they make their way along the parade routes.

~ In China, the public holiday lasts three days, but celebrations take place over the entire 15-day period.

FACTS ABOUT HORSES

• Horses were domesticated by humans about 3500 B.C.
• Horses can sleep standing up.
• Horses can’t burp.
• Horses can live to over 30 years old.
• A horse’s age can be determined by his teeth.
• Horses are herbivores.
• Arabian horses have one less vertebra than other horses.

• Species-wise, the closest relatives to a horse are the donkey, zebra, Brazilian tapir and rhino.

• Horses can understand and even interpret human emotions.\Horses are great communicators when you know what to look for. They use their ears to say whether they’re relaxed, trying to figure out what’s behind them or anxious and alert. 

The above information was found at the following sites:

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/horse.htm
https://habitatforhorses.org/ 

STORIES

A small sampling of stories to help you gallop into the New Year.

Beauty and the Horse - Denmark
https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/type0425c.html#denmark

The Black Horse - Ireland

http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/mcft/mcft05.htm

Catching a Horse by Its Tail – Six stories from this folktale type, collected by D.L. Ashliman.

https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/type0047a.html

The Dun Horse – Russia

https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/68/fairy-tales-and-other-traditional-stories/5075/the-dun-horse/ 

The Ebony Horse – Persia

https://www.istoriez.com/the-ebony-horse/ 

The Enchanted Horse – Persia

http://www.worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Arab_folktale_33.html

The Flaming Horse: The Story of a Country Where the Sun Never Shines -Czechoslovak Folktale

http://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Czechoslovak_folktale_3.html

The Fox and the Horse – Grimm/Germany

http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-47.html

The Girl with the Horse’s Head - China
http://www.worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Chinese_Folktale_36.html

Horse Cursed by the Sun – South Africa

http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/saft/sft41.htm

The Horse and the Stag – Aesop
https://fablesofaesop.com/the-horse-and-the-stag.html

The Kelpie of Loch Garve - Scotland

http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/scotland/ross-and-cromarty/folklore/the-kelpie-of-loch-garve.html

The Lost Horse - China
http://www.midislandstorytellers.com/uploads/3/2/4/1/3241687/the_lost_horse.pdf

The Mosquito and the Horse - Estonia

http://www.fairy-tales.parnas.info/en/estonian/mosquito.html

The Princess and the Glass Mountain – Czechoslovakia

http://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Swedish_folktale_16.html

Sivka-Burka/Ivan and the Chestnut Horse - Russia

https://www.russianamericancompany.com/sivka-burka-1/?srsltid=AfmBOoqIbOW_LUn2gNS1qh_WqPxPhyBPHopaiWyS30EP7NIP9xOH6qoM

The Swift Blue One – Native American

http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/se/wsgr/wsgr15.htm

The Water Horse of Barra – Scotland
https://www.greatbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/TheWaterHorseofBarra_OER_FINAL.pdf

White Horse – Manitoba Ghost Story from the Cree Tribe

http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/07/post_1.html

BOOKS

Great Kids Books for the Lunar New Year

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/great-kids-books-for-lunar-new-year

Horses: Myths, Legends, Folktales and Ancient Stories by Pat Perrin

“These horse stories have been collected from great storytellers and edited to replace obsolete words, simplify sentences, and clarify meaning--16 fabulous tales, 4 extra spreads, and 16 charming illustrations.”

http://www.amazon.com/Horses-legends-folktales-ancient-stories/dp/1935178148  

CRAFTS

Clothespin Horse Craft

http://www.busybeekidscrafts.com/Clothespin-Horse.html 

Danielle’s Place – Horse and Donkey Activities for Kids

http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/HorseCrafts.html

DLTK’s Craft for Kids – Toilet Paper Roll Horse

http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/mhorse.html

First Pallette.com – Chinese Paper Lantern

https://www.firstpalette.com/craft/paper-lantern.html 

First Pallette.com – Chinese Dragon Mask

https://www.firstpalette.com/printable/dragon-mask.html 

CURRICULUM

Alabama AG in the Classroom

https://alabamaaitc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Equine_Unit.pdf

 

Horses Educational Resources K12 Learning, Life Science, Science Lesson Plans, Activities, Experiments, Homeschool Help
https://www.elephango.com/index.cfm/pg/k12learning/lcid/13094/Horses

Montessori Inspired Horse Unit
https://livingmontessorinow.com/montessori-monday-montessori-inspired-horse-unit/

MUSIC

NancyMusic.com – Cute song and fingerplay for the Chinese New Year.

http://www.nancymusic.com/Gunghayplay.htm

SOMETHING EXTRA

Horse Quotations and What They May Mean

https://www.thesprucepets.com/popular-horse-quotes-and-what-they-mean-1887400 

Storybug.net: Dragons - Mythical, Mystical, Magical Creatures! – Here is a previous blog post filled with dragon tails, curriculum, crafts and more to augment your Chinese New Year celebration.

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2011/05/dragons-mythical-mystical-magical.html

Below are two previous blog posts I wrote for The Year of the Tiger and the Year of the Rat. You will find useful background information to augment your Chinese New Year programs.

Gung Hay Fat Choy

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2008/02/gung-hay-fat-choy.html

Year of the Tiger

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2009/12/2010-year-of-tiger.html

Karen Chace 2013 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.